Visits to Wimbledon every year and foundation to sponsor local talent

Chowringhee:

Roger Federer’s philanthropy spurs Calcuttan Sunita Sigtia as much as the magic of his tennis that takes her to Wimbledon every year to watch him play. Her not-for-profit organisation SiiRF, established 10 months ago, stands for “Some Immensely Inspired Roger (Federer) Fans”.

SiiRF was born on August 8, the champion’s birthday, and has since sponsored two young talents who had been struggling to continue in their chosen sport because of financial reasons.

For Sunita, who has met Federer on many occasions, SiiRF is now a mission only matched by her admiration for the legend. “My charity is inspired by Roger….The lesson I have learnt from him is that you have to give something back to society in whatever way possible. My dream is to associate him, even if in a small way, with my foundation,” she told Metro.

Sunita, who is in her 40s, runs a fabrics business. Tennis, Federer and charity – not necessarily in that order – help maintain the work-life balance that she seeks.

One of the two sportspersons Sunita has set out to help is Amit Rawat, the son of a cobbler and a domestic help. Amit, who grew up in a slum in Beniapukur, learnt to play tennis while working as a ball boy at Calcutta International Club and got so good at it that he caught the eye of a coach.

Sunita’s foundation has arranged a brand new kit for him. She also recently sent him to a tennis academy in Pune for six weeks of training. “Amit has done well on the Calcutta circuit, but the next two years are crucial,” she said.

Bristy Mukherjee, the 14-year-old girl who won a silver medal at the Asian Youth Chess Championship in Thailand last month, has also benefited from Sunita’s sponsorship. The teenager’s mother had mortgaged her jewellery to send her to the event. SiiRF has now pledged financial and other support to Bristy for future tournaments.

Sunita, who has “RF” tattooed on her neck and his signature on her forearm, is the Indian face of Fans4Roger, the official fan club of the legend. She had first seen her idol up close in June 2008, when she was visiting London for a house-warming at New Malden, around 5km from Wimbledon. “The house-warming was the official reason for the trip, but I knew I had to visit the All England Club,” she said.

Wimbledon queues are long. For one of the show-court tickets, thousands of fans camp overnight. People in these queues bring tents, folding chairs and rainwear, among other things. Sunita only had an umbrella and it started raining heavily that night. “I was freezing. Another man offered me shelter in his camp,” she recalled.

Visiting Wimbledon has since been an annual ritual. Before each Grand Slam, Federer is presented with the Red Envelope, a collection of good-luck messages from fans across the world. Delivering the envelope to the legend is considered the highest possible honour for a Federer fan. Sunita did so at Wimbledon 2011, wrapping the envelope in silk fabric with RF inscribed in zardosi. “He simply loved it,” she said, beaming at the thought.

Federer’s charity, the Roger Federer Foundation, is involved in more than a dozen educational projects benefiting lakhs of African children in countries like Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

As one of the privileged fans who get to travel each year to London, Paris, Melbourne and New York to get a glimpse of their idol, Sunita believes the best tribute to “the best tennis player ever” would be to emulate his spirit of giving.

Federer might say: “Roger that.”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Debraj Mitra / May 30th, 2018